CIRCA 5TH CENTURY B.C.

Details

AN ACHAEMENID CHALCEDONY STAMP SEAL
CIRCA 5TH CENTURY B.C.
Of conoid form showing a king grasping an inverted lion by its hind leg; an Old Babylonian chalcedony conoid stamp seal with a bearded worshipper before a spade, stylus and recumbent ibex on an altar, crescent above; two similar conoid chalcedony seals, one with star, crescent and globes, the other with winged disc, circa 6th Century B.C., 1.1/8 in. (2.8 cm.) high max; a large group of mainly chalcedony, cornelian and haematite Sassanian stamp seals with human, animal and mythical creatures, including winged figures, birds, bulls, ibexes, a stag, Gayomard, a star, flowers and leaves; and two etched cornelian beads, all 4th-7th Century A.D., 1 in. (2.5 cm.) high max, all pierced for suspension(a lot)

Provenance

Le Bois Muralt, Switzerland (see lot 95).

Special notice

VAT rate of 17.5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer’s premium. VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer's premium.

Lot Essay

The figure of Gayomard represents the constellation of Orion and his companion is Canis Major. Cf. E. Gubel (ed.), A l'ombre de Babel: l'art du Proche-Orient Ancien dans les collections belges, Banque Bruxelles Lambert, 1995, p. 127, no. 250 for a stamp seal with identical figure; and A. D. H. Bivar, Catalogue of Western Asiatic Seals: Stamp Seals: The Sassanian Dynasty, The British Museum, London, 1969, 58, pl. 6.

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